Sunday, 19 October 2014

Apparentlies aren't everything

We’ve heard of all sorts of wonderful things they apparently
achieved on 18th September.

·If only people born in Scotland had been allowed
to vote they would actually have won, apparently.

·If only people over 65 had had the good grace to
die off sooner, then again they’d have won, apparently.

·Four Local Authority Areas actually voted Yes! This
is nearly a majority out of 32 Local Authority Areas, apparently

·Some people have vowed never to vote Labour
again, apparently

·Lots of people joining the SNP is almost as good
as independence itself, apparently

·They’re still going to have websites and rallies
and flags, apparently

·And Tommy Sheridan is going nowhere, apparently.

The list of positives is almost
endless, apparently.

The problem is that there is one big negative that doesn’t involve any apparentlies. There was a vote and they lost. Not even narrowly
but by more than ten percentage points. In an event they themselves promised would
happen only once in a generation.

Ironically, the one person on the
nationalist side who got that was Alex Salmond. He’s chucked it. There’s no apparently about
that either.

And, slowly the rest of them are getting
it as well. Tellingly, while there is lots of “we are not defeated” verbiage in
the manifestos of the three SNP Deputy Leadership candidates published in
today’s Scotland and Sunday, none of
them seeks the cheap internal votes that would come there way by pledging an
early re-run of the contest just past. For good reason.

Instead the Nats do have a short
term strategy disclosed in today’s Observer by Kevin McKenna. If they can win lots
of Westminster seats from Labour then this will assist the return of a Tory
Government. This might not be particularly good news for ordinary working
people in Scotland, or indeed elsewhere in the UK, but it would be good news for the SNP. Apparently.

I don’t really see how this works
with the electorate myself: “Vote SNP to increase the chances of a Tory
Government” seems to me an improbable vote winner in west central Scotland but,
since “Vote SNP and we’ll support a Labour Government”, seems to be politically
off the internal Nat agenda that is what their line is to be, apparently. The
problem is that going from a September argument that you should “Vote Yes to permanently stop Tory Governments”
to a following May argument that “It doesn’t really matter whether it is a Tory or a Labour Government if it
is not a Scottish Government ” might prove sufficient for the flag eaters, it
is difficult to see it gaining much traction with those who thought getting rid
of the Tories was the reason they found themselves voting Yes.

And even if the same “anti politics”
sentiment which seems the mood of the moment across Europe does bring this strategy
some success, and I don’t rule that out, is that a success the Nationalists would
really want? This isn’t a one off
referendum vote where the end might justify the means. This is a decision which
will, within the continuing Union, have day to day consequences for years. While
I concede that “We’ve got a Tory Government because England voted for the
Tories” might drive votes towards the SNP in 2016, by that same logic “We’ve got a Tory Government because Scotland
voted SNP” seems likely to have precisely the opposite effect. Don’t ask me,
ask anybody who was in the SNP during
the 1980s.

In the end, 2016 has to be the
election the SNP are really interested in. For, more venal considerations of
personal office holding aside, it is by the Nationalists own concession that the
only route to Independence now runs through Holyrood not Westminster.

So what’s the point of them
contesting Westminster elections at all?

“To keep up our momentum” would be their reply. But that brings me back to where I started. Momentum towards
what? There was a vote and they lost. And in a democratic system it is all
about winning. All or nothing I’m afraid. No apparently about it.

1 comment:

Not sure a Labour return in Westminster will be great for poorer parts of society given their commitment to out austerity the Tories....

Even as an SNP voter I don't really see the sense in returning SNP MP's as they alone, even if we had 30 won't get a new referendum.

Best change in imaginable timescale(only slight chance at that) is if England votes yes to EU exit while Scotland votes NO. Even then there is no guarantee and I don't see what mechanism could be used. Even 30-40(never happening) SNP MP's could not swing it.

The Labour robot voters will return in their droves as its a Westminster election.

My question to you is of course, they all voted Labour last time and guess what. It protected no one from the Tories. Why would this time be different and why is it less futile than voting for the SNP ? You are still depending on England,

I think the momentum is to consolidate their lead over Labour, specifically in Holyrood.